The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art recently unveiled
the schematic design for a major expansion and renovation led by
architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio, Amsterdam with Sylvia Smith,
of Fox & Fowle Architects, as executive architect. The
museum's enveloping urban landscape will be transformed by
artist/architect Maya Lin.

Founded in 1842, the Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art
museum in the U.S., and its collection and history are
distinguished. Despite an impressive legacy of commissioning
architecture that is an expression of its time, the Wadsworth
Atheneum's current campus is confusing to navigate.

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
The innovative design by UNStudio respects the museum's historic
structures while introducing a new light-filled public gathering
space that will make the museum more accessible, and will provide
new and improved gallery space to showcase its renowned
collections.

The museum's five contiguous buildings were constructed over 127
years, from 1842 to 1969. The architects' plan calls for
removing the 1969 Goodwin building, which occupies a seventy-foot
span between the 1842 Wadsworth building and 1934 Avery building on
the museum's north side, and Gengras Court, an open-air courtyard
at the center of the museum campus.

Upon entering the museum, visitors will find
themselves in a public square, vibrant with light and people, with
visual connections to the art in the galleries. The double
helix of slowly spiralling ramps will generate a gradual transition
from the first-floor public square to the galleries./Ben van Berkel

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
A new structure will be introduced that will extend into the
Wadsworth and Colt building interiors (which were gutted in the
1965-69 renovation), and cohere to the historic interiors of the
Beaux Art style Morgan Memorial (1910-1915) and the International
Style Avery Memorial (1934).

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
The museum's main entrance will move from Main Street to the new
building on Atheneum Square North and will be transparent at street
level to entice the passersby. The new entrance will span the
breadth of the old Goodwin faade and lead into a welcoming public
concourse that gently descends to the museum cafe and an outdoor
terrace overlooking Burr Mall to the south.

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
Once inside, the visitor's orientation to the museum is
dramatically enhanced by sight lines that visually link the public
concourse and the galleries. The visitor is given a glimpse
of the art that lies ahead. Rising from the concourse are two
gracefully stepped ramp ways that connect the buildings and direct
the visitor to each successive level throughout the museum.

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
This architecturally integrated circulation system is supported by
a cone-shaped cable system that doubles as a light well, filtering
light from above through the tiers of the new structure and onto
the concourse below.

Both ramp ways and elevators arrive at the upper levels of the
new buildings, which features an 8,400 square foot gallery for
temporary loan exhibitions, and a 6,300 square foot gallery for
contemporary art. These galleries are column-free and will
use flexible wall systems to accommodate changing
installations.

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
The new building will be clad in a perforated metal designed to
flow seamlessly from the north faade to an asymmetrical roof.
Translucent in part, the new roof is faceted to reflect the
skylights and rooftops of the existing historic buildings. At
night, lit from within, portions of the building will appear to
glow. The faade and flooring of the new building will be
light-hued, in harmony with the rough-hewn granite exterior of the
Wadsworth building and smooth limestone of the Avery
Memorial.

Image Courtesy Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art
Ground breaking is scheduled for the first quarter of 2004.
UNStudio

The Wadsworth Atheneum, the USA's oldest public museum, has slowly
grown over time, resulting in a maze of unconnected, small rooms.
The design for the renovation and extension increases gallery space
and improves the traffic flow. The rigid grids of the existing
buildings are interwoven with a fluid circulation system which
revolves around the central hollow core.

The addition of 1969 is replaced with a central distributor
space which gives access to the separate buildings, whilst
accommodating for their differing floor heights. It creates a new,
transparent entrance, actively inviting people in and increases
gallery space by a third. At the new entrance, an enclosed
glass-walled concourse spans the entire museum. A cone-shaped
opening, woven in fine metal mesh, descends from the rooftop to
provide light.